PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies drafted right-handed pitchers Shane Watson and Mitch Gueller Monday night in Compensatory Round A with the 40th and 54th selections, respectively, of Major League Baseball’s first-year amateur draft.

Watson, a 6-4 pitcher from Lakewood (Calif.) High School, is a University of Southern California signee. Gueller, a 6-3 pitcher from W.F. West (Wash.) High School, is a Washington State recruit.

Marti Wolever, the Phillies’ assistant general manager for amateur scouting, said both players are signable by the July 13 deadline.

“We’ve done a lot of homework on these guys,” Wolever said “We’ve done a lot of work with the families themselves and certainly with the advisors they have, so we feel very good that they will come to terms.”

Advertisement

Monday, teams made their first-round and compensatory-round selections. Rounds 2 through 15 will be conducted today, with the draft concluding Wednesday.

Watson, who throws a 96-mph fastball, went 4-3 with a 1.03 earned-run average and 79 strikeouts in his senior season. He caught the attention of big-league scouts as a junior, when he earned 10 wins while posted a 1.16 ERA.

“He wears it on his sleeve, doesn’t back down,” Wolever said of Watson. “Gueller’s a little bit more composed, but they’re both extremely competitive and both very athletic.”

Gueller owned a 6-0 record with a 0.80 ERA and 70 strikeouts his senior year. Wolever said Gueller has the chance to have “two or three above-average pitches” at the big-league level.

Wolever said Watson and Gueller, contingent upon their signing, will begin their careers in the Gulf Coast League. According to Wolever, both pitchers “you hope in four or five years could be knocking on the door” of the majors.

After taking two pitchers Monday, the Phillies are expected to open up Day 2 of the draft by selecting a hitter, Wolever said.

“Still got a couple that I’m very intrigued by,” Wolever said. “We’re hoping to lead off in that direction (today). I’m not going to tell you who they are, but there are a couple hanging out there that we like.”

NOTE: Lackawanna sophomore Chris Kirsch, a 2010 Marple Newtown All-Delco, said he expects to be taken today, when clubs make their selections in Rounds 2 through 15. This season, the 6-4 left-handed pitcher went 10-1 with a 1.80 ERA, 101 strikeouts and 35 walks for Lackawanna, a Scranton-based junior college. “I’m hearing between fifth and 10th round,” Kirsch said by phone. Pittsburgh selected Kirsch in the 13th round in 2010 and St. Louis took him in the 21st round in 2011, but Kirsch opted against signing.